Iranian Ambassador: UN Vote "a Step Towards Wiping Out Israel"

Western diplomatic efforts aimed at heading off a United Nations resolution on Palestinian statehood appear to be making little or no progress. The United States and other allies are trying to find a way to push Palestinians back into direct peace talks with Israel, but those efforts have been rejected.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas complained that "all hell has broken out against us" over the UN effort, but that there was no turning back from the present course.

That course, Iran's ambassador to Egypt said in a weekend interview, was merely one stage in a broader effort. The push for full membership as a UN member state "is a step towards wiping out Israel," said Ambassador Mojtaba Amani in an interview with Al-Watan al-Arabi. "But the Palestinians must that follow a correct example and complete all the measures to prevent the Zionist Entity from depriving them their rights."

Abbas reportedly rejected offers of concessions from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including compromises on language describing the borders of a future state and describing Israel as a home for the Jewish people.

"From now until I give the speech, we have only one choice: going to the Security Council. Afterwards, we will sit and decide," he said.

The United States has promised to veto any Palestinian request for full inclusion as a member state before the council. But the PA likely would secure an upgrade of its current status as an observer if it turned to the full UN General Assembly. Western diplomats say that will lead only to disappointment for Palestinians and not get them any closer to actual statehood.

And there are risks for the Palestinians if they refuse to alter their course. If Congress follows through on threats to cut off American aid to the Palestinian Authority, "the risk of PA collapse is very real," PA central bank chief Jihad al-Wazir told Reuters.

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